This Ordinance regulates the fees to be charged:

a.

for institutional and programme accreditation in accordance with HEdA;

b.

for services provided by the Swiss Agency of Accreditation and Quality Assurance (Accreditation Agency) to third parties.

Where this Ordinance does not lay down specific provisions, the provisions of the General Fees Ordinance of 8 September 2004³ apply.

1 Based on Article 35 paragraph 1 HEdA, cost-covering fees shall be charged for accreditation procedures in accordance with HEdA. Here, a distinction shall be drawn between:

a.

direct costs, in particular the fees paid to assessors, their expenses and the expenses of Accreditation Agency employees in connection with on-site visits;

b.

indirect costs, in particular the expenditure of the SAC and the Accreditation Agency in connection with accreditation procedures.

² In the case of institutional accreditation, the direct and indirect costs shall be charged as follows:

a.

The Accreditation Agency shall invoice higher education institutions and other institutions within the higher education sector whose sponsors are required under FCA-CHE to contribute funding to the SAC and to the Accreditation Agency for the direct costs.

b.

The other recognised agencies shall invoice higher education institutions and other institutions within the higher education sector for the direct costs; they may invoice them for indirect costs up to the amount specified in Article 4 paragraph 2.⁴

³ In the case of programme accreditation, the higher education institutions and other institutions within the higher education sector shall be invoiced for the direct and indirect costs irrespective of the sponsor.⁵

1 The direct costs of an institutional accreditation procedure in accordance with HEdA with five assessors, a one-day preparatory meeting and a 2.5-day on-site visit shall be charged at a flat-rate, excluding value added tax (VAT) of CHF 32,000.

2 The indirect costs of an institutional accreditation procedure with a one-day preparatory meeting and a 2.5-day on-site visit shall be charged at a flat rate, excluding VAT, of CHF 27,000.

3 For a larger group of assessors or a longer on-site visit, the fees shall be adjusted according to the schedule of fees for services provided by the Accreditation Agency to third parties.

4 The costs of any other revision work shall not be included in the flat rate; they shall be charged on the basis of the given workload.

1 The direct costs of a programme accreditation procedure in accordance with HEdA with five assessors and a 1-5-day on-site visit shall be charged at a flat rate, excluding VAT, of CHF 13,000.

2 The indirect costs of a programme accreditation procedure in accordance with HEdA with a 1.5-day on-site visit shall be charged at a flat-rate, excluding VAT of CHF 20,000.

3 For larger or smaller groups of assessors or longer or shorter on-site visits, the fees shall be adjusted according to the schedule of fees for services provided by the Accreditation Agency to third parties.

4 The costs of any other revision work shall not be included in the flat rate; they shall be charged on the basis of the given workload.

1 Fees shall be charged to cover the following costs of the services of assessors who conduct accreditation and other quality assurance procedures on behalf of third parties:

a.

a daily fee for an on-site visit by members of the group of assessors, including the report and the preparatory and follow-up work, gross: CHF 800;

b.

a daily fee for an on-site visit by the head of the group of assessors, including report and preparatory and follow-up work, gross: CHF 1,200;

c.

a flat-rate fee for revision work without an on-site visit, including the report, covering one day, gross: CHF 800;

d.

a flat-rate fee for drafting the group of assessors’ report, gross: CHF 1,600;

e.

a flat-rate fee for other activities carried out during accreditation procedures, such as preliminary examination or revision work without a report by the group of assessors, covering half a day, gross: CHF 400.

2 The fees do not cover the social insurance contributions and taxation (incl. tax at source) of assessors who reside abroad.

1 In order to cover the assessors’ expenses, fees shall be charged that cover these costs.

2 Expenses include all costs incurred while providing the services concerned, and in particular travel, food and accommodation costs.

3 The Accreditation Agency shall regulate the details for determining the fees, and for covering and billing the expenses. In doing so, it may not exceed the maximum rates set out in Articles 41–48 of the FDF Ordinance of 6 December 2001⁶ to the Federal Personnel Ordinance.

Fees shall be charged for the services provided by Accreditation Agency employees to cover these costs. The following rates apply, which cover an infrastructure contribution as well as ordinary operating costs:

a.

hourly rate for the Director, excluding VAT: CHF 200;

b.

hourly rate for the person managing the accreditation procedure, excluding VAT: CHF 140;

c.

hourly rate for work done by the Secretariat, excluding VAT: CHF 80.

The Fee Regulations of the Swiss Accreditation Council of 12 March 2015⁷ are repealed.

This Ordinance comes into force on 1 July 2018.